When : Saturday May 3, 3pm
Where : Madejski Stadium, Reading, RG2 0FL
Capacity : 24,161
And (maybe) finally this season comes the club’s greatest game in the last 8 years. Greatest because there’s a small chance the season might be extended by 2, or even 3, games and because there is actually a tiny bit of hope that the Chinese idiot will finally have pi$$ed off and we’ll be able to see the first game of a new dawn.
Barnsley though are capable of being your “class A” definitive party poopers, they won this fixture last year and can be a very difficult and frustrating opponent, especially on their travels where they have picked up most of their league points this season. In addition they can pose a serious attacking threat as storming to a 3-1 lead at Leyton Orient a couple of weeks ago proves. However they obviously have defensive frailties which can be exploited with the right mindset and approach as they went on to (sadly) lose that game 4-3.
Those frailties have been very apparent over recent form though with the Tykes currently being on the back of just 1 win in their last 11 games (and that was a 4-1 home victory over Bolton). So based on that form, if Reading don’t win this game then they certainly don’t deserve to be partaking of a shot at another Wembley letdown.
Former Mansfield striker Davis Keillor-Dunn is the major striking threat with 16 goals so far, however the Barnsley midfield is also very potent with Stephen Humphrys, Adam Phillips and Jon Russell contributing 27 goals between them so there’s going to be a lot of activity for the defensive side of Reading to watch carefully.
For Reading, there’s a chance that Jeriel Dorsett, or perhaps even Michael Craig, could be fit enough for a place on the bench but Kelvin Abrefa misses the rest of the season with a hamstring injury while Ben Elliott might get a game if Reading do get to the play offs.
The other game to note:
Huddersfield Town v Leyton Orient
Permutation is that simply Reading MUST do better in their game than Leyton Orient do in their final game in West Yorkshire to claim 6th place and the final promotion spot. Any other result means Reading will finish 7th (I know that if a 10+ goal swing in GD to Reading happens then it’s possible to match an Orient win and get 6th but realistically I reckon there’s more chance of the club being sold this week than that so it’s not worth mentioning
).Finally, as the last game of the season it is reportedly going to be available to watch via NOW or the Sky red button despite the Saturday 3pm kick off.
Referee
Carl “1 point in 3 home games” Brook
Previously
18 Jan 25 > Reading 1-3 Stockport County
09 Mar 24 > Reading 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers
12 Dec 23 > Reading 1-1 Oxford United
19 Sep 23 > Exeter City 0-9 Reading (EFL Trophy)
Historically
Overall though this game is the Tykes' 39th league trip to Reading and they've only won 7 of the previous 38 games in total compared to Reading's 21 victories. Of the 10 league draws in Reading, a whopping 8 of them have finished 0-0.
But in recent times Barnsley have had an annoying habit of turning up, being dour, and going home with 3 points as 4 of those 7 Barnsley wins have been in the last 9 games played.
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket
- NOW app/Sky Red Button
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use a RoyalsTV subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)
